Think Colombia may still use some.

Even upgraded these birds need to be retired….

News item is dated March

Your right, it practically is, but for a 400+ plane order, Congress will make sure it will have to be repackaged.

Cant have them paying for good ‘ol boys to be flying jets made from Korea…

Source: Press Trust of India

Thanks for the link.

Its states IN have issued RFI, this is a long way off from LMTAS being able to offer the F-35 right?

What is a proper news source according to you ?

You do not believe the Lockeed-Martin Biz Development (India) VP Orville Prins or Shiv-Aroor the owner of the blog ?

He is a reliable source especially when reporting things first-hand. Just wait and see.

No offence but one of the recent headlines on the blog was written after the first PAF pictures of Block 52s in testing at Fort Worth.

The headline was “PAF F-16s do not have CFTS”, when every DSCA/Industry notification said they did.

How can you call such a source “reliable”!!!???

They did not even mention why/how they came to said conclusion. Likewise I think F-35 in IN/IAF colours, whilst not an impossibility, will not happen anytime soon.

You look at how many nations are in the F-35 food line, and how quickly IN/IAF needs its jets and a simple maths test will give you your answer.

Glad to see nationalist jibes starting by other posters….

Would a 2 seater Block 52 “Lite” be a reasonable solution?

Take out dorsal spine avionics, EW fit, maybe simpler AESA radar.

Range is not a massive requirement so no need for CFTs.

Fill it with a F-35/F-22 looking cockpit for familiarisation.

Factory line is still open at LMTAS systems as well….

Is this still a ‘breaking news’ after 4 months?

http://theindependent.mu/2010/02/17/stealthy-us-fighter-f-35-for-ally-india/

Your link is to a different article. Thats to a story claiming LMTAS may offer F-35 for MRCA. This has not happened and they are offering F-16IN.

The link to livefist claims F-35 being offered to Indian Navy. Which I doubt….

There seems to be two topics under discussion…one, a replacement for the T-38 in USAF pilot training…and two, an aircraft that would provide initial training in fighter fundamentals.

The two are not the same.

Program goals in pilot training have little to do with flying fighters other than those students who have qualified for the T-38 track have demonstrated the skills for flying high performance fighters and bombers. The actual training syllabus does not train fighter skills other than basic formation and navigation.

USAF pilot training is as much about elimination as it is training. As the student makes his way through the program, he is faced with ever increasing demands on his ability to complete a difficult and time-compressed syllabus. Back in the day, the T-41 (Cessna 172) was used to weed out those who lacked any ability to be a pilot. The T-37 further reduced the class by eliminating those who could not adapt to a jet environment. Finally, the T-38 completed the elimination process by filtering out those who could not keep up with high performance flying. While the T-41 and the T-37 have been retired, the process today remains the same.

“LIFT” presumably means “Lead In Fighter Training”…a program that has been around since the early 70s in the USAF. The idea was to take some of the load off the F-4 and A-7 (and later, the F-15, F-16, A-10, and F-22) training by taking students through a program where they would learn fighter fundamentals such as basic air-to-air and air-to-ground attack and low level navigation. Right now, for this purpose, the USAF uses T-38s in a 10 week course following pilot training graduation.

So…take your pick! Do you want to discuss a T-38 replacement for pilot training? Or do you want to discuss a T-38 replacement that will provide initial fighter skills training for all of the USAF fighters?

Er…the T-38 is used for both roles by the USAF and they want to replace the T-38.

So I may be going out on a limb here, but maybe the repalcement will also fufill both roles!?